Comfort
by carameltootsieroll
Summary: Comfort. That was what Caitlin Snow, as a doctor, was tasked to give her patients. Soothe aches. Alleviate pain. Cure diseases. But what about emotional pain? What power did Dr. Snow have over those "ailments"? (One-shot) Snowbarry Fluff inspired by events in s01e17


_**A/N: **_**First Snowbarry fic! I got inspired by that hug they shared in the latest episode, s01e17! I heard some rumors that fans are up for some Snowbarry moments in s01e18…I hope those rumors are true because I NEED SNOWBARRY!**

**Please excuse the lame plot. This fic came out of the blue and I posted it within an hour of writing it haha **** Literally, hot off the press! Expect pure fluff and nothing more teehee **

_**Disclaimer: **_**I don't own The Flash or any of the characters huhu **** If I did, SNOWBARRY would be canon UGH**

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_Comfort._

That was what Caitlin Snow, as a doctor, was tasked to give her patients. Soothe aches. Alleviate pain. Cure diseases. But what about emotional pain? What power did Dr. Snow have over those "ailments"?

_None actually_, she thought, allowing self-pity to get to her for just a moment.

Caitlin sighed deeply and leaned back in her chair. She had been watching Barry from afar all afternoon. That boy had been through a rough couple of days and she, along with the rest of the S.T.A.R. Lab team had watched as the recent events got to the Flash and affected his emotional well-being. Caitlin couldn't blame the poor boy. It was difficult enough having your mother murdered in front of you and your father put in prison for it despite his clean slate. (Okay, Caitlin hasn't experienced anything like that first-hand but she _guessed_ it pretty much sucked to be in Barry's shoes.) Add the fact that Nora Allen's probable murderer was running free around Central City and the additional recent catastrophes involving the Trickster; it was no surprise that Barry had started to crumble from the stress.

_How to comfort someone ailing from emotional stress?_ Caitlin wondered. Well, she had tried to hug him earlier, but the effects of the embrace only seemed to last for a couple of minutes. After that, he was back to his zombie-like trance.

Just then, Barry walked in. He had a rather dazed look on his pale face, his mouth drawn into a thin line and his brown eyes distracted. He headed straight for the testing room, oblivious to the fact that Caitlin was in the room. On a normal day, he would've greeted her with a warm smile or a friendly, "'Sup, Caitlin?" But he walked straight on, not even bothering to glance at his sides or to acknowledge Dr. Snow. Caitlin huffed. That was it. She was not going to let Barry continue on like a zombie anymore.

"Allen!" she called, standing up from her chair.

Barry jumped and spun on his heel. "Caitlin?" he exclaimed, breathless. "Whoa, I didn't see you there."

Caitlin crossed her arms over her chest. "That's because you're distracted. Barry, please tell me what's going on. I want to help you."

Barry ran a hand through his hair, looking defeated. "I'm fine, Caitlin," he muttered, avoiding her gaze.

Caitlin sighed and walked over to him. "You've been acting distant from us all day - wait, scratch that - these past few days."

"I'll give you the usual answer: my mom's killer is running around the streets of Central City and I don't know if I can trust Dr. Wells." He finally met Caitlin's eyes, pausing for a brief second as if regaining his thoughts. He shook his head, brown hair falling to his forehead. "I know, I sound crazy. I just trusted him earlier when he told me to run head-on into something concrete, and I did what he told me to do. And the crazy thing is, it worked. But now I'm telling you I don't trust him, and you probably think I'm crazy because you trust Dr. Wells but - "

Caitlin raised her hand up and Barry stopped mid-sentence. "Barry, calm down."

Barry rubbed his arms and shook his head again. Caitlin noticed that a sheen layer of sweat had started to cover his forehead, plastering some of his hair to his face. "I'm sorry. I should just go." He turned to leave but Caitlin caught his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Barry, you have me genuinely worried," Caitlin said. "I thought you'd be fine after we caught the Trickster, but seems to me that you aren't okay."

Barry managed a small smile. "I thought so too," he admitted. "I dunno...I guess I'm just overthinking."

Caitlin squeezed his arm. "I call it a pizza date. I think you need to relax."

Barry raised an eyebrow. "You promise it'll just be pizza? Because if you plan to sneak in some alcohol into the itinerary, you do know it won't have any effect on me. And I really don't want to have Part Dos of bringing Drunken-Caitlin back home."

Caitlin's cheeks felt warm at the mention of the aforementioned incident. That night at the karaoke bar had her confused about her feelings towards Barry..._he was such a gentleman_...wait. _Caitlin! You aren't supposed to be thinking like this about Barry! _She cleared her throat in an effort to regain her composure. "No alcohol. I don't want a repeat of that night myself," she said with conviction. "Just pizza. And ice cream, maybe. You need the comfort food."

Barry smiled, legitimately this time. "Okay, fine. Comfort food," he repeated, allowing Caitlin to pull him as they walked out of S.T.A.R. Labs.

* * *

"So let me get it straight, _how _did you ask her to prom?" Caitlin asked again as she stuffed another slice of pepperoni pizza in her mouth.

After walking around Central City for what seemed like hours, the two finally found themselves at Project Pizza, a 50's-Themed Diner not so far from their usual hangout, CC Jitters.

Barry opened his mouth to talk but burst out into another round of laughter. "I - swear - I can't tell you! You'll - never - see - me in the same - way - again!" he managed in-between laughs.

"Please! I just want to know! I won't judge you, I promise." Caitlin held her hand up and offered her pinky for a pinky swear. Barry eyed her suspiciously but eventually gave in to her pinky promise.

"Okay, fine. I gave her a bunch of formulas to derive and they spelled out prom," Barry began.

"Oh my God," Caitlin muttered. "Let me guess, you used stuff like 'work divided by time' to get 'power' which was the letter 'p' for 'prom'?"

Barry nodded slowly. "You're so judging me right now."

Caitlin waited a few seconds, the image of teenage Barry Allen stressing out over his promposal playing out in her head. She burst out laughing. "Yes, I am _so_ judging you right now. But I applaud you for that ingenious plan. I would've done the same thing if I were you."

Barry raised an eyebrow. "You'd prompose the same way? Using physics?"

Caitlin smiled smugly. "Maybe Biology. I like Biology better." She took another bite of pizza and watched as Barry did the same. He seemed less distracted now, totally un-distracted, if even. He was smiling for what seemed like to Caitlin, the first time in a few days.

"What?" he asked, munching on his slice of pepperoni pizza.

"What yourself?"

"You're looking at me funny," Barry said in-between chews. "Like that time when you called me onstage to sing at the karaoke bar."

"Can you please not mention that night," Caitlin groaned. She felt her cheeks burn at the memory of that _drunken_ night. Ugh, that had not been a good one. Nor had the morning after been a very good one either. Caitlin had never gotten _that_ drunk before, ever. She was usually a responsible drinker. She didn't know how things had gotten so out of hand that night...well, of course she had to take into consideration the fact that she was trying to get over _Ronnie_ that night…

"You okay?" Barry asked, startling her out of her thoughts. She suddenly noticed that his hand was resting atop hers on the table. She drew away quickly, still blushing madly.

"Yeah. Sorry, I just got...distracted."

Barry smiled lopsidedly. "And I thought I was the distracted one who needed a date away from it all."

Hearing the word "date" coming from Barry did not help the situation at all. Caitlin's eyes stung. She wanted to sink into her chair and disappear into thin air. The words _date _and _Barry_ set her heart on edge, but she knew that she couldn't - emphasis on COULD NOT - be feeling this way for The Flash!

"Caitlin," Barry called out again. He tilted his head and locked eyes with her. "I think you brought me out here to talk about _your _problems. Are you okay?"

Caitlin smiled up at him. _You can't admit you fancy him. You can't admit that he's endearing. You can't admit you're falling for him. _"Yeah, I am."

"Then why the long face? I thought I was the one supposed to be all emo and depressed here?"

Caitlin swallowed. "It's just…I remembered Ronnie," she murmured. She bit her tongue and cursed herself as soon as she saw a flicker of pain cross Barry's face. For a split second, it appeared as if Barry had crawled back into his protective shell, away from Caitlin and the world. Caitlin wasn't so sure why, but she figured Ronnie was a sensitive topic for Barry, too. But why?

"It's okay, he knows what he's doing," Barry told her. He squeezed her hand. "He'll come back." He said the last part like someone was sawing through his throat, like the words _come back_ were somehow poisonous to his mouth. Did Barry not want Ronnie to come back? A part of Caitlin almost felt overjoyed at that thought.

For a second there, Caitlin almost admitted to Barry that she did not want Ronnie back.

Okay, to set things straight, yes, Caitlin had been ecstatic when Ronnie had returned from the "dead", but a part of her, a tiny, eetsy, bitsy part of her was sad, too. Ronnie had returned right when Caitlin had made her decision to leave him in the past. (And she sort of successfully had left him in the past after that eventful karaoke night.) Him showing up again after that night brought back memories she thought she had buried. Shoveling up feelings she had put away was not an experience she recommended.

Caitlin almost admitted that she didn't want Ronnie back. Because Ronnie coming back meant that she had no reason to fall for Barry.

Yeah. There. It was out.

Caitlin Snow may be slightly in-love with Barry Allen.

"Do you need more ice cream?" Barry asked. "Comfort food?"

Caitlin shrugged. "I'll get more if you get more."

Barry grinned. "Or, we could head out to that popcorn store by the cinemas and grab a midnight snack for the ride back to S.T.A.R. Labs," he suggested.

Caitlin thought for a moment. Popcorn sounded more attractive to her heavy heart. "I'll pick the latter option."

They both stood up from their seats and Caitlin was about to head for the door when Barry surprised her by throwing his arms around her in a hug. "Thank you for tonight," he said. He smelled like soap and Caitlin found that oddly comforting. "Pizza and ice cream, you knew exactly what I needed."

She hugged him back, enjoying the way his strong arms fit around her waist. Did he feel like this when she embraced him earlier that day back at S.T.A.R. Labs? Did he feel just as comforted? "I'm glad you're smiling again," she managed.

"Now to get you _your_ comfort food," he said, pulling away and grinning at her. "Popcorn here we come!"

He grabbed her by the waist and they sped off into the night. Literally.

Okay, fine. Maybe Caitlin _did _have the power to comfort emotional ailments. But surprisingly, Barry Allen did, too.

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_**A/N: **_**How did you guys like that? Please tell me in your reviews! Tell me if you guys think I should write more Snowbarry hehe!**


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